Ballyshallagh Road Bangor – Friday/Saturday 15th – 16th June 2018
There was an excellent turnout of riders and spectators at Ballyshallagh Road in Bangor for what was to be a full two-days racing classic dirt bikes around the beautiful hillside racetrack belonging to local landowner Cecil Pearson.
The event was organised by the Northern Ireland Classic Scrambles Club with the aim of raising valuable funds for Cancer Focus and promoting the profile of their organisation which has been running these types of off-road events in the area since 1989.
The club currently has over 280 members, ranging in age from the very young racers right up to the more mature 60+ veterans who always put on a good show for the visiting spectators.
The event was to be a get-together for all classic scrambling machines from the early 1970’s right up to the early 1980’s. Many local riders turned up to take part and there was also a good contingent of Scottish riders who had made the short trip across the Irish Sea to attend the event.
Friday night started very dry with dust billowing across the hillside track although it didn’t dampen the spirits of the many spectators and the motorcycle competitors who had turned up to race at this very picturesque and beautiful part of the country.
With some heavy downpours during the night thankfully the rain subsided just before action got underway with the first race of the day on Saturday morning.
Halfway through the race programme there was a heavy downpour which saw a few of the skilled racers falling from their bikes trying to circumnavigate the now extremely muddy conditions.
Local riders included David Wilson, William Burgess, James Thompson, and also Trevor Calderwood who won the CZ World Championship race event that was held in California USA back in 2016.
Landowner Cecil Pearson, who is also a racer, enjoys maintaining and watching his very unique collection of 1930’s J.A.P scramblers being put through their paces by his team of local racers who contest these vintage bikes against much more modern machinery, and more often than not they win.
Fun, families and motorcycles was the topic for the weekend and it was a good get-together for all concerned, but more importantly it raised much needed cash for a very worthwhile and needy charity, Cancer Focus Northern Ireland.
If you would like more information on the Northern Ireland Classic Scrambles Club just visit their website on www.niclassicscramblesclub.com
Words by Chris Montignani
Pics by Colin William Mcilhagger
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